


Wave

by Holyangelheart



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Short One Shot, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 07:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14130921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holyangelheart/pseuds/Holyangelheart
Summary: This is my Shiro's Birthday Exchange pinch hit forfulltimedoodlerbased on her sheithCollege AUwhere Keith and Shiro keep failing to wave at each other until they get it just right.





	Wave

* * *

 

It was supposed to be spring, but the days were still chilly. Everyone on campus wore light jackets, hoodies, or long sleeves. For Keith, he wore his usual grey hoodie with the University’s logo on the front along with black skinny jeans and the backpack he had since high school. His hair was protected from the wind with his iconic red beanie that he tends to wear every day of the week. He was completely in his element.

The sky was full of dark grey clouds and everyone seemed to be walking with their heads down. Just when he was about to push his earbuds in to listen to music, he caught sight of someone who just stood still as people walked around them. They were taller than most and had a good build, Keith lifted his eyes and for a moment, their eyes met. His hand automatically lifted to wave, but the guy moved away before he could try to remember his name.

All day he spent his time trying to remember why the guy looked familiar. His hair was black with an undercut and he wore a blue sweater vest with a black button-up shirt and black slacks. A laptop bag crossed his torso and he clutched it tightly when their eyes met. For the rest of the day, Keith couldn’t get the image of his eyes widening as he covered his face as if he was suddenly ill at the sight of him.

For Shiro, he couldn’t believe he ran away like that. He was just minding his business when Keith appeared in front of him. Ever since he started college, he had been mesmerized by him. His style was casual but with a bad boy attitude mixed in with the cat eye and black earrings. He always seemed to wear variations of the same outfit, always coming in with a different hoodie. They shared a lot of their general studies together and lived on the same dorm floor.

In class, a lot of the girls liked Keith because of the aloof vibes he gave off, but it was mostly the other boys who paid attention to him. No one ever saw him without the hoodie and some wondered if he wore a shirt at all.

One day when everyone was packing up to leave English 101, Shiro caught Keith stretching and saw a slip of skin where fabric should have been. He ducked out and away before Keith could notice him staring—he did that often. The only time when Keith actually saw Shiro properly was when Shiro answered questions during class and all the attention was focused on him. Still, he tried to avoid Keith’s eyes and they were already halfway through the semester.

The class he enjoyed the most was Astronomy 101 and Keith was there too. He would never have taken him for a lover of the stars, but when he saw how he absorbed the information about the universe, everything clicked into place. Keith was smart and learning about that side of him only made Shiro fall deeper in love.

\---

  
Keith still couldn’t get the image of the guy looking ill when they crossed paths. He was obviously a classmate of his but for some reason his name eluded him. Usually, he was so busy focusing on the lecture that he only looked at his classmates when someone other than the professor was talking. The next day during class, Keith sat in his usual spot which was in the last row. The harder he stared at the board, the more the guy in the front row came into view. The guy wore a white button up with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms and his undercut looked nice from the back. The top of his hair was slightly messy as he continued to push his fingers through them as he scribbled down notes.

It was the first time Keith noticed and during the rest of his classes, he realized their seating positions were exactly the same. Yet every time he tried to get a good look at the man’s face, he would swiftly turn away. It happened three times in a row; it wasn’t a mere coincidence. He was clearly being avoided on purpose.

On his way to his room, he decided to stop at the student lounge on the first floor of the dorm. He wanted to get a bottle of coke from the vending machine but was stopped by the large crowd inside the lounge. Across the room, he saw the same white button-up shirt from earlier and the guy froze. Even with an entire room between them, their eyes still found each other. Keith waved again, but when he was about to cross the room to talk to him, one of his teammates from the soccer team called out to him.

When his eyes refocused on his classmate, he was already gone. Even while listening to his teammate’s chatter, he couldn’t help but scan the crowd. Why did the guy hate him so much?

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Shiro thought as he walked out of the student lounge. Right when he was about to wave back, he hesitated and was glad he did. Keith wasn’t even waving to him! It was clearly meant for the other guy. He nearly embarrassed himself that time and he would have died if he did.

Why would Keith even try to wave to him the first time? He must have tried waving at someone else the day before too and he was just standing in their way. Shiro felt like a complete fool, but he couldn’t help but wonder if those waves really were meant for him. It seemed impossible, yet…if Keith did wave at him on purpose and he just walked away…he’d feel terrible.

Shiro made the resolve that the next time he came face to face with Keith, he would wave for sure. His resolve was immediately tested a few hours later when he decided to check on Matt, his best friend and the only person who knew about his crush on Keith.

Matt texted him to bring Cheeto Puffs as quickly as possible and as he rounded a corner towards his room, he bumped into someone. Shiro instinctively reached out to steady them and dropped the bag. “Sorry! Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m good—oh,” Keith said. Neither of them moved as their faces were only inches apart. Now that he could see him clearly, Keith realized that he was shorter. His shoulders were much broader than he thought and his pitch black hair complimented his entire aesthetic. The longer he stared; he realized that he was actually pretty cute. His voice spoke on its own. “You’re…Shiro, right?”

Shiro’s mouth opened and closed and he just nodded wordlessly. Keith smiled softly at him and he felt his body burn hot. His eyelashes were longer than he thought and they framed his beautiful dark eyes perfectly. “You’re…uh, Keith.”

“Yeah,” Keith’s smile grew as he looked down at Shiro’s hands that grasped his elbows. He pursed his lips when Shiro immediately removed them as if he touched an open flame. Feeling cold now, he pushed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie as he stared down at his feet.

Shiro’s eyes followed Keith’s and picked up the bag of Cheetos on the floor. He hid it behind him as if he was caught stealing from the cookie jar and wondered if it was worth going to Matt’s room or not at this point. Before he could try to run, Keith cleared his throat.

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie during the weekend,” Keith said with one hand rubbing the back of his head. He wanted to see him again and something told him if he were to let Shiro go, it would be a while until he’d get to. “There’s a new Marvel movie out that I haven’t seen yet.”

It wasn’t the first time Shiro was at a loss for words. He already saw the movie with Matt, but he nodded so fast that he thought his head was going to fall off. He felt his soul leave his body when Keith flashed a grin at him; he would do anything to see him smile again.

“Cool,” Keith said. In truth, he already saw the movie with his roommate Lotor the week it premiered at the local theater, but Shiro didn’t need to know that. Plus re-watching Marvel movies was always a good time.

Keith took out his phone with a text message open for Shiro to put his number in. Shiro took it and quickly typed it out and immediately received a message from Keith when he handed it back. Keith texted a peace and popcorn bucket emoji while Shiro replied with a thumbs up and the wave emoji, making Keith laugh as he replied with the wave emoji too. For once they were able to accomplish a wave.

The two parted ways then and Shiro delivered the big news to Matt who congratulated him on his date—which he hadn’t realized at all. Keith wanted to date him? He got a pillow shoved in his face after that.

When it was time for their date, Keith looked in his element in front of the movie theater. He wore a “Uni” black hoodie with his red beanie while Shiro wore a red sweater vest and a black button up. Shiro was the first to wave this time, his left hand rubbing the back of his neck. He couldn’t believe he was going on a date with the boy he liked.

Keith waved back with a huge smile, telling him to come closer. He watched as Shiro jogged up to him, a sheepish smile on his lips that looked awfully cute. They stood side by side as they took their first selfie together—one of many—before walking into the theater to have a great time.


End file.
